Humber OCMC Case Study Challenges

As the weeks fly by, it's obvious to see that the hard work is paying off for Humber’s OCMC team.  Practices are becoming more fun, getting more intense and the students are becoming more close-knit. You can see that the connections between our smaller teams, like the case study challenges and Quiz Bowl (more info on the Quiz Bowl team here http://humberocmc.blogspot.ca/2014/10/an-inside-look-at-quiz-bowl-team.html), are getting stronger, which I'm sure will show when it comes time for the competition!

The entire OCMC team practices every Tuesday afternoon. This practice is geared towards enhancing our analysis and performance skills. This is great because the majority of the team will be presenting a case study analysis at the competition, of which there are 8 challenges:

•       Marketing
•       Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
•       Marketing Research
•       Retail
•       Entrepreneurship
•       Direct Marketing
•       International Marketing
•       Prospect Pitching

At the competition, these teams will be put into a room and are allotted 30 minutes to dissect a case and create a 15-minute presentation for a panel of judges that they have never met before! (The IMC team is given 60 minutes because of the difficulty of their field). I'm freezing up during class presentations, so kudos to these teams for doing it in competition! Hopefully my skills will improve throughout the semester for my own benefit! For more information on each of the challenges, visit http://ocmc.ca/events/cases/. 

Coach Christine and James, from the IMC challenge, with his crazy hair!

It's nerve racking for sure, but I have no doubt that Humber’s OCMC Team will do very well in all elements at this year's case study competition.

Coach offers inspiration to students

During the time leading up to OCMC our coaches and all the faculty involved are like our parents. They deal with all of our stress and nervousness like it is second nature. They are a source of constant support and encouragement and always try and make sure that we know that they know we are doing our absolute best! Without our coaches and other faculty support we could be nearly as prepared as we are for the upcoming competition and we would not perform nearly as well as they and we are sure that we are going to!

With the competition only a few days away I thought it would be good to get a little bit of advice and inspiration from Sheryn Beattie, the coach of the retailing team to inspire us as we prepare to use all we have learned and compete in OCMC 2012.

How did you first get involved in OCMC? 
OCMC was started over 30 years ago as a provincial event. Humber was encouraged to participate 10 years ago and Humber faculty were asked to volunteer to help.

 What do you enjoy most about being a coach for OCMC?

OCMC is all about student engagement. Working one on one with the students is a great way to share knowledge; their experience and my first hand knowledge working in the field. I love to see the students challenge their business knowledge and hone their presentation skills. Training for OCMC is like igniting a passion learning.

What are you most looking forward to during OCMC 
OCMC is a fun and demanding event. I hope the Humber team does well but I believe the Humber team wins no matter what the outcome; they have all worked hard and will do their personal best.

What advice do you have for your team and other teams? 
Take a deep breath, be supportive of your teammates and meet the case challenge with a clear strategy and think INSPIRATION! Be proud of your achievement, you are representing Humber and competing against the top marketing students in the province.

What is the best advice you have ever received? 
"Life is not a dress rehearsal, enjoy every day as if it were your last."

What do you find is the best method of coaching a team?
Provide structure for the case method, but expose the team to the newest marketing trends, this will get them thinking about innovation! It is also important to expand critical thinking with trial and error through repeated case analysis. It is important to have the team understand that the business arena is very competitive and they must learn to think outside of the box for new ideas, be supportive of one another and take responsibility for their decisions.

-Rachel